If mazal tov means good fortune, then MasterCard tov must mean "your fortune's in the hole!" Some wiseguy in Israel figured out that no wedding is complete without finding a way to move credit cards into the mix.

Here's the latest gadget; you pay a few shekels to rent some gizmo that looks like a bank ATM. You set it up at the front of the wedding hall. Instead of buying a wedding party gift like most normal joes and jills do, here you just swipe your plastic through and punch in the amount that you want to give to the bride and groom.

Bada-bing, bada-boom ... the machine prints out a receipt, you stuff it in an envelope to give to the happy couple, and the dough is moved to their bank account the next day. I don't know about you, but I know that a slip of paper would mean a boatload more to me than some simple present that somebody HAD TO PUT SOME THOUGHT INTO!

This ain't nothing but another easy way out. If you're gonna give a gift to someone who's taking the plunge, give cash ... give a blender ... but don't give yourself a headache in the process, baby. Stay away from debt. I'm out.